Introduction to Mark

The Gospel of Mark is traditionally thought to be written by John Mark, the young man who was a cousin to Barnabas that abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey.  He was later the reason Paul and Barnabas split up because Paul did not want to take him again on their second journey.  He ended up being a companion of Peter in ministry and is later recognized by Paul as having matured and being useful for ministry.  John Mark was not a constant eye witness of the ministry of Jesus, although it is likely that he saw portions of Jesus’s ministry in Jerusalem.  His mother, Mary, owned a home in Jerusalem that was the site of the last supper as well as the place where Peter went to after he was released from prison in Acts.  John Mark mentions himself as being present at the last supper as well as being in the garden when Jesus was arrested.  In all likelihood, Mark records the eyewitness account of Peter since the two of them ministered closely together.  Mark presents Jesus as a Servant who suffered and sacrificed His life for those He served.  It seems that he writes to a Gentile audience, most likely in Rome.  There is no genealogy in Mark and many of the expressions used indicate a Gentile audience.  Since Mark was his Roman name and the Gospel bears only that title, it seems likely that he writes to a Roman audience.  John Mark is a wonderful example of God’s grace and His patience with His servants.  He did not begin well in His ministry, but by God’s grace He finishes very well and was greatly used by God.  We should not give up in the face of failures; nor should we disqualify young men because of initial immaturity.  God is in the business of changing lives and He often uses failures to bring about that change.  We need to learn to be patient with ourselves as well as others.

THE PROCLAMATION OF THE SERVANT’S MESSAGE IN GALILEE: Jesus is presented to the people by the John the Baptist as the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.  He proves Himself to be obedient and faithful to the Father and then He begins to proclaim His message to the people that were closest to Him.  He teaches the people about who God is and what God requires of them.  He seeks to reveal the truth to the people of his own nation and the area closest to where He grew up.  Despite His authoritative teaching He was greatly criticized and questioned by the religious leaders who were jealous of His large following.  His attempts to convince the people of His true identity through His message and miracles were met with constant opposition.  The people wanted to be healed but they did not want to hear what He was teaching.  The people who were closest to Him had the hardest time understanding what He was teaching and who He truly was.  Many people today continue to be drawn to Jesus because of what He can do for them but they are not really interested in following the message that He left us to follow.  Instead of finding in Jesus a message to be obeyed people are hoping for a miracle to be operated.  Who Jesus is to us must always be more important than the things we want Him to do for us.

THE PREPARATION OF THE SERVANT’S MINSTERS IN PALESTINE: God’s plan of redemption stretches far beyond the borders of Israel.  When Jesus separated His disciples He began by showing them who He was through His teaching and miracles.  He showed them His love for the people and His desire to serve them.  He then commissioned them to go out and serve others by proclaiming the message of repentance and the kingdom.  He sent them to the surrounding nations and people with instructions to go from village to village and proclaim the message of repentance from sin.  When they were received they were to stay and minister.  When they were rejected they were to shake the dust off of their feet as a witness against the village.  This mission demonstrates that the strategy of Christ was to prepare His disciples to spread the message of salvation not only to the children of Israel but to surrounding nations as well.  Israel had been chosen by God as a means through which all the nations would be blessed.  Unfortunately, Israel became much more concerned with their own blessings and were solely focused on a kingdom of Israel in order to find protection from the nations and eventually domination.  Christ is striving to take their eyes off of the kingdom of Israel and focus their attention on His Kingdom made up of all nations.  This is God’s plan of redemption and the reason Messiah came to earth.  Jesus seeks to prepare His disciples for this mission that they would carry out after His death that would eventually reach us and then through us to those nations that have still not heard the Gospel.

THE PERSECUTION OF THE SERVANT’S MINISTRY IN JERUSALEM: The focus of the disciples and the children of Israel was on being able to reign.  The focus of Christ and the Father was on being able to redeem.  Jesus clearly stated His purpose of giving Himself as a sacrifice for sin and told of His own resurrection but the disciples were unable or unwilling to understand.  Jesus and everyone knew of the opposition of the religious leaders in Jerusalem so the consensus of opinion was to stay away from there and focus on the villages all over the nation.  However, the plan of redemption required Jesus to be crucified and then be resurrected in order to pay the price for sin.  As a man Jesus did not want to die any more than any of us do; however He was the perfect Man who was completely submissive to the will of the Father and was ready to give His life as a ransom for all of mankind.  He came to Jerusalem and, as anticipated was ridiculed condemned and crucified.  In the process of going to the cross He prepared His disciples to face the coming condemnation and the persecution that would also come to them.  Just as Jesus was persecuted and even died in order to fulfill the Father’s will.  He calls us to be willing to do the same.  Christ and His disciples suffered sacrificed and many died for their faith and as a result the Gospel has reached us.  We are now called to follow that same path of suffering and sacrifice as servants so the Gospel can go forward and reach those who still have not heard.  We ought not to expect to be treated differently than our Savior was treated.  The story of redemption has been fulfilled and is being fulfilled today.